"I'll Have One of Each!"

I am reading through the book of James, and this morning read this verse:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and elfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:13-17).

When I finished reading the above delineation of what constitutes wisdom, I said to myself, 

“I’ll have one of each.” 

The entrees in this list are free for the taking; we simply must choose them in the self-control the Spirit provides, desiring His goodness in lieu of, as Paul states, “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1).

In looking at each ingredient of wisdom, we note right away that the writer of James distinguishes this true wisdom from false wisdom. 

True wisdom “comes from heaven.” 

So when we think we are being wise, we can test ourselves by asking, 

“Is the wisdom out of which I am operating my wisdom, or from God in heaven?” 

In answering that question, we move on in the verse:

“The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure.” 

First and foremost, wisdom from heaven is pure. What does pure mean? 

I love dictonary.com's definition:

“free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold, pure water.”

Wisdom that is Godly is pure in that it contains God and only God. 

The Bible is our directive, and a saving faith in Christ enlivens the Holy Spirit in us, opening our hearts, minds, spirits, souls and bodies to discerning the difference between what is of man and what is of God.

The James passage uses the word “then” to introduce the next seven traits of heavenly wisdom. Interesting, isn’t it, that these follow purity. Purity must come first.

Why is this?

Because we pollute God’s wisdom right out of the shoot with our self-righteousness, pride, personal ambitious agendas, and worldly education and expertise, along with our desire for human affirmation, attention and drama (which often involves a hidden layer of getting back at others, or proving them wrong). 

Until we ditch the adulteration, purity will be delayed. 

So in order to get the ball rolling, we must agree with God that His wisdom is the only pure, true wisdom, and then we must go to His Word to grow and live in that wisdom. 

Over the next few days, I will explore each of the next seven qualities of “the wisdom that comes from heaven.”

Copyright Barb Harwood